July 11, 1960 - A Snapshot in TIME

TIME Magazine featured a picture of the Kennedy's on their July 11th cover as the 1960 Democratic National Convention got underway in Los Angeles. Much of the edition was focused on U.S. politics in the lead-up to the 1960 general election.



AFRICA:  The Independence Movement

World stories focused on Africa which was in the midst of a continent-wide independence movement.  The Congo,  Somalia, and Ghana were each featured in stories which both celebrated their independence and analyzed their challenges.  The Congo was already on the brink of a civil war with the mineral-rich Katanga Province threatening to secede.  

SOUTH VIET NAM: Problem of One Man

Vietnam is just beginning to emerge in the News.  This particular story looks at the challenges faced by the unpopular South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. 

"...he is an aristocrat by birth, has no real contact with ordinary citizens or confidence in their judgments. Since an assassination attempt three years ago, Diem is constantly surrounded by police; he has neither the desire nor the ability to be a folksy man of the people. The peasants, who blame the government for a one-third fall in the price of rice this year, view Diem as a remote and austere figure, while they must contend with nightly raids by Red terrorists. To the city intellectuals, Diem's one-man rule is increasingly galling. They argue that his administration could be more liberal without impeding economic progress or exposing itself to Communist infiltration." Read more

CANADA: Acadian Winner

TIME had a small story on the Liberal win in the Provincial election in New Brunswick which saw Louis Robichaud elected as Premier.

"The decision surprised nearly everyone. In Ottawa, Liberal Chief Lester Pearson, who leads the Opposition to Diefenbaker's Tory government, confessed: "I didn't think we would win." Apprehensive shudders ran through the government benches in Ottawa's House of Commons; defeats for federal governments are customarily heralded by provincial defeats." TIME Magazine



More to follow this week on the historic 1960 Democratic Convention.

Remembering and reflecting... Rob; in Vancouver